


It Started With A Compliment

by kinraijou



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Isolation, Jack is more of a loner then a nerd, Jack is salty, Kissing, LIKE FOR REAL A LOT OF COMIC BOOK TALK AND IM NOT SORRY, M/M, Nerd!Jack, PNAU, Punk!Hiccup, RPNAU, Swearing, comic books
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-26
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 07:55:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6110113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinraijou/pseuds/kinraijou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack doesn't stick out much. Hiccup sticks out a lot. Jack reads comic books and Hiccup wants to read comics too. Too bad Jack doesn't have a say in this predicament.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> special thanks to fuelledbymaple and coldfeetwarmflames

      It started with a compliment. A compliment that came out of nowhere, and left Jack confused.

      “Cool shirt.”

      It would have been fine, but the fact it came from Hiccup Haddock of all people is what left Jack confused. Hiccup wasn’t one to give compliments; correction he wasn’t one to be nice to anyone. He was more interested in sassing the teachers, and picking fights with Dagur and making fun of guys like Jack. Loners that read comics and kept quiet in the back of the class by sketching. It was one of the days that Jack wore his new Daredevil shirt. It was the overlapping double D insignia, with the text looking like dripping paint, but also worn and faded. It was a bad-ass shirt, but Jack had to deal with an onslaught of taunts from Snotlout. Specifically where he was hiding his double d’s?

      Thankfully Snotlout got a slap from the back of the head by Hiccup. When he and his punk crew stalked off, Hiccup stayed behind, looked over Jack and complimented his shirt. Not a sarcastic compliment with that know-it-all smirk he gave to teacher. The brunette’s brow was raised, and he was still smirking but he actually liked it. Jack’s following reaction was him forgetting how to breathe for a minute and saying something that sounded like a ‘thanks’.

      After that it got even weirder. At lunch Jack sat next to the window, sitting at the table by himself. He didn’t mind, and rather sat by himself and catch up on the recent batch of comics he bought for the week. Behind his issue of Ms. Marvel he looked up to see Hiccup looking him over from across the room. Jack would have assumed it was nothing, but the minute Jack made eye-contact Hiccup looked away. Shrugging Jack went back to eating his overly mushy pasta, feeling eyes on him again.

      Then during Anatomy, Jack was secretly flipping through the new issue of Son of Batman. The art was beautiful, something that Jack could only dream that his style would become. But once again he felt eyes on him, and like someone was coming into his bubble. Glancing over to his right he saw Hiccup leaning over slightly, trying to read what Jack was looking at. Moving farther to the left, Jack tried to block the comic and keep Hiccup away from his book. He didn’t need any more fodder about what Hiccup and his gang could tease him about. The screeching of Hiccup’s desk caught Jack by surprise, causing him to look over at Hiccup and glare.

      “Would you back off?” He hissed, not knowing where the sudden courage came from. That was enough to catch everyone’s attention.

      “Mr. Haddock, do we have a problem?” Mrs. Kneigh asked, walking over to the two teen boys.

      “Of course not, I just almost fell asleep in class is all. I’m sure everyone would understand.” Hiccup joked, leaning back in his chair. Mrs. Kneigh’s rose a brow at the brunet, but she stayed quiet. She was one of the few teachers that could at least keep up with Hiccup’s snarky comments and not lose it.

      “Mr. Overland, I see you putting that away. Hand it over.” Jack quietly groaned as he handed the comic over to the teacher. She shook her head and sighed.

      “I expected more out of you Mr. Overland, you can get this after class.” She walked back to her desk and set the comic down nonchalantly. Then turned back to her lecture.

      Jack rested his head against the cool metal of his locker and let out a deep sigh. He must have looked stupid. Not that he would normally care, he wouldn’t. But the fact that Hiccup caused it all felt like it brought unnecessary attention. Not to mention Hiccup was absurdly hot as hell and seemed to have a sudden interest in Jack. Yeah, he admitted Hiccup was hot, but everyone and their third cousin thought Hiccup was hot so it wasn’t just him. He was tall, had dark green eyes, and was sporting the most beautiful ink on his biceps and shoulder. And that stupidly hot lip ring that made his lips look even more kissable, ugh. Not that Jack thought about kissing him or anything. Also his ass, his ass was pretty great too whenever he decided to wear those red basketball shorts for gym class.

      Pulling up his hood he headed down the stairs of the high school, keeping his eyes down like usual. He had to get home and bury himself in whatever school work he had assigned, and forget about today. Putting on his headset he turned on his IPod, starting his waling music on shuffle.

      “Hey Daredevil!” Apparently his music wasn’t loud enough, he could hear some jerkoff yelling in the hall. He kept walking, mind wandering, what should he make for Emma for dinner. Maybe Mac and Cheese, it was her favorite. His heading buzzing with food ideas, until he felt his hoodie being pulled down roughly which pulled him out of his thoughts. Pulling away from the grip, even though it made the material around his neck tighten he was free, and pissed off. He was ready to tell the person to fuck off, but his blue eyes met green.

      It was Hiccup. Why…?

      “That’s the name of the superhero right? The one on your shirt.” Hiccup said, gesturing to the black shirt. Jack blinked, not sure what to say, the punk never talked to him this long, beating the first record of this morning. “Because I thought it was, because I’ve been watching that Netflix show and it’s so fucking kick ass. I mean wow, that movie from forever ago didn’t do it any justice. I have no idea how that got through with the studio, and and really the casting in the show was better and….” Hiccup stopped and licked his lips, which Jack was not checking out, then glared at Jack.

      “Did I say something wrong?” The brunet’s eyes narrowed, looking pissed. “You’ve been looking at me like a goldfish.”

      What was wrong with him? HIM? What was wrong with Hiccup? Why was he talking to Jack of all people, like he wanted to talk to him? Like he could just be buddy buddy all the sudden. Guys like Hiccup don’t talk to guyd like Jack without wanting to find a way to make him pissed off. Because getting people pissed off and uncomfortable got those kind of shitheads something to get off to maybe? Jack wasn’t exactly sure why, but they always seemed to laugh whenever Jack’s pale face got red with anger and embarrassment.

      “Wh, Why are you talking to me?” Jack finally said, glaring at Hiccup now. He can play this game too, be suspicious and angry, at least he had a reason to be.

      “Because you like Daredevil, and comic books.” Hiccup stated, like it was so simple. The white-haired teen blinked, frowning at Hiccup.

      “Yeah, well, I gotta go.” Jack extended the ‘yeah’ as he backed away. That would help him have a head start in running away from the clearly confused punk. What was he kidding, his lungs would betray him in the end, and even with the prosthetic Hiccup was faster than him. Turning on his heel he pushed open the stairway door, he even skipped a few steps just to make it to the ground floor in record time.  
By the time he made it to the side exit of the school, with his lungs burning and his feet sore, he looked behind him. No one was behind him, Hiccup didn’t follow him as he ran for his life.

      Good.

\--

      The next day was quiet, most days were. Jack kept his head down, and stayed in his lane. He had one more year to leave this place, he wasn’t about to fuck it up by suddenly bringing attention to himself. Besides he preferred being alone, he had friends online and there was less drama this way. Opening his locker he took out his AP History textbook, closing the cold metal door he saw a tall brunet in the corner of his eyes. Ready to walk away quickly, he was roughly pushed against the lockers. Hiccup glared down at him, looking directly into Jack’s eyes.

      “Um…"

      “Why did you run away?” Hiccup interrupted, Jack looked around to notice that the hall was conveniently empty. Of course.

      “Why do you care?” Jack asked, not looking at Hiccup. He kept his eyes on the clock on the wall, he had five minutes till class. Five minutes till someone spotted them. Hiccup grinded his teeth, narrowing his eyes at Jack.

      “I just wanted.” Hiccup stopped himself, noticing his harsh tone. “I just wanted to talk, but you had to freak out and run off.” He still sounded angry, but not like he was going to rip out Jack’s jugular. Jack finally looked at him, and was surprised to see that Hiccup looked hurt. Yeah right, Hiccup ‘Horrendous’ Haddock, was never hurt, especially over someone like Jack ignoring him.

      “Are you honestly surprised? You’re kind of harassing me right now.” Jack frowned, lurching towards Hiccup so he would realize how close the two of them were. The heat of Hiccup’s body radiated onto him, and it felt good, too good. Hiccup took a step back, giving Jack his space.

      “I just… You know about comics, and I wanted to know more I guess. I mean you always read them during class. And during lunch. Also when you skip out on P.E. and you sit on the bleachers, which everyone can see.” Jack blinked, he didn’t think people noticed that, especially Hiccup of all people. He seemed more interested in keeping his gang in check, or pissing off the teachers.

      “So, what? Do you want me to give you comics or something?” That’s new, usually its money or homework people were interested in stealing from him. One time it was his phone, it took forever for the school to fucking do something about that.

      “No, just tell me about them. Like what do you suggest, that’s all. I wanna get started now.” Jack was about to say something, but the warning bell went off. He had two minutes now to make it to class, he turned away from Hiccup, heading to the stairs. Hiccup reached out and grabbed his wrist. Jack stiffened, scared that Hiccup was going to push him into the lockers again. Maybe hit him for trying to act tough.

      “Meet me at the library during lunch, we can talk then.” Hiccup said plainly, then released Jack, walking to his own class. Jack looked down at his hand, the place where Hiccup touched him feeling warm. Pulling down his hoodie sleeve to cover the spot, he ran to class, only to be scolded for being late.

\--

      Jack was tempted to go straight to the cafeteria, and sit at his usual table. He didn’t owe Hiccup anything, especially his time. Besides he just got Lady Killer in the mail a few days ago and he had been meaning to read it. Yes, he can just ignore Hiccup, but then again if Hiccup was pissed off at Jack for running away from him the first time, what about the second time? Walking absentmindedly, he ended up at the library. Despite the fact that Jack loved to read, he avoided the place. Maybe it was the smell, how some of the light flickered, or the way the librarians looked at him like he was just here to use the computers to look up porn. It isn’t his fault that it isn’t exactly hard to do.

      He scanned over the library, but didn’t spot Hiccup. Well he was already here, and it was quiet compared to the cafeteria. Finding a back table that would give him some cover from the librarians eyes, he sat down and took out a granola bar. He would have had Mac and Cheese for leftovers, but his mom took his container and he wasn’t about to steal Emma’s. Unpacking the piece of oats and chocolate he stuck it his mouth as he opened the graphic novel.

      “Didn’t expect you to come.” Jack looked up to see the taller, punky teen standing across from him. Jack rolled his and set his book down, sticking a piece of paper in to remember where he was.

      “Well, I didn’t want to find out what would happen if I didn’t.” Jack said dryly, looking squarely at Hiccup. The brunet shrugged and sat at the chair across from Jack.

      “Fair enough. Anyway about comics. DC or Marvel?” Jack let out a sigh and leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms.

      “They’re both crap, in their own way. No one is better than the other, Dark Horse and IMAGE and Vertigo, a bunch of companies that release stuff that is just as good. So keep that in mind.” Jack closed his eyes and hummed for a moment, thinking of what to suggest before sighing. He sat up straight and looked at Hiccup who was leaning forward. He looked eager, for some reason.

      “Ugh, I don’t know, what do you like genre wise? Any hero you like specifically?”

      “Batman.”

      “Of course.” Hiccup glared at Jack. “What I mean is that you picked a hero with the longest running franchise. And not to mention his sidekicks and villains having their own series. I mean with all the Robins-“

      “Wait wait, there is more than one Robin?” Jack smiled coyly at Hiccup’s confusion, poor guy didn’t even know what he was getting into.


	2. Chapter 2

      “This isn’t Batman.” Hiccup looked up at Jack like he just spat in his yogurt. Jack rolled his eyes and took a seat opposite of Hiccup.

       “Yeah, it’s not, it’s a flash drive with every episode of season 1 of the Batman animated series.” Jack opened his backpack to pull out a bag of Cool Ranch Popcorn. Hiccup had asked for comics, but Jack didn’t trust anyone with that. He was even picky with the books he lends Emma. However Hiccup didn’t need to know that Jack didn’t trust him.

      “Okay?” Hiccup picked up the old flash drive in his hand. Jack was able to find one in his dad’s old desk, and immediately downloaded the entire first season from his laptop.

      “It’s a good way to get into the comics. I mean they show them to kids because they are simple.” Jack explained. It worked with him, and it worked with Emma. Now the kid was obsessed with Supergirl and Superman, which wasn’t that bad in Jack’s opinion.

      “Are you calling me stupid?” Hiccup asked, frowning at Jack. Jack stopped mid-chew, not daring to look up. The two of them have been talking for the past few days and Jack couldn’t tell where he stood with the punk. Sometimes he could joke around with him, and other times if he made the slightest joke about Hiccup, the guy would look like he would rip his head off. It was a pain in the ass honestly, not knowing what they were. Jack swallowed the mushy bit of popcorn in his mouth.

      “Well it’s a good show, but if you don’t want it…” Jack leaned over to grab it, but Hiccup was faster.

      “No, no, I want it.” He said, putting the flash drive in his jean vest pocket. Jack hated that thing, with the frayed cut off sleeves and the different band patches on the back of it. The shirt under it also clung and showed off his biceps and his fucking stupidly hot tattoo. Jack had memorized the pattern and had finally guessed that they were supposed to be scales, like the ones on dragons, if dragons existed that is.

      “Alright then.” Jack went back to eating the popcorn.

      “Well…”

      “Well what?” Jack looked up, frowning.

       “Have you seen that new superhero movie? You know that R-rated one?” Hiccup asked. He hadn’t, his mom basically forbidden it. They had a rule that if they were going to the movies it would be a movie that everyone could watch. And since Emma is nine no one can go. But it didn’t matter since Jack was planning on just pirating it online anyway, he just hadn’t gotten the time for it.

      “Because I was going to go tomorrow night. Wanted to know if you wanted to come.”

      “Oh.” Jack said simply. That wasn’t expected, that’s for sure.

      “I’m not allowed. Also I’m not old enough, so I can’t get in.” Hiccup smirked from hearing that.

      “Do you always do as you’re told?”

      “No.”

      “Then prove it.” Jack wanted to tell Hiccup that he wasn’t going to be pushed around. However Hiccup’s gaze pierced through Jack’s body, and the words died before they could leave his lips.

\--

      This is so fucking stupid, but also really exciting. Jack zipped up his hoodie and looked himself over in the bathroom mirror. He messed with his hair, running his hand through it so it didn’t look so flat. Wait, why was he acting like this was a date? He stopped playing with his hair and headed out of the bathroom. He wasn’t exactly sure why he agreed in the first place. Since he tried to make it clear to Hiccup that he wasn’t going, but of course once Hiccup looked like he was gonna punch Jack, he had to say yes like a little bitch. Was this bullying? Yeah, Jack was pretty sure this was bullying.

      “Jack?” He turned around to see his mother in her pajamas, her long brown hair cascading down her back. He just realized he was standing in the middle of the hallway like a crazy person.

      “Uh, hey mom.” Jack smiled. She quirked her brow at him, probably wondering why he was wearing clothes this late at night.

      “Are you going to bed soon? I know you like talking to your friends online, but please get some sleep.” She smiled, giving him a kiss goodnight on the cheek.

      “Y-Yeah, I promise. Just gonna check on Tooth’s recent cosplay.” He explained. His mother didn’t really get it, the whole comic book or cosplay thing. But his mother has stated in the past that anything was better than getting into drugs.

      “Okay, tell her I said hi, and then go to bed.” She pressured gently before walking to her bedroom. Jack went to his room and locked his door. The nice thing about living in a one story house was that sneaking through the window was easy. Now all he had to do was wai- KNOCK KNOCK

      Or not. Pulling back the curtains, Jack saw Hiccup’s handsomely smug face. Sighing, he opened the window for him to come inside.

      “You ready to go?” Hiccup asked.

      “Not really.” Jack whispered, afraid his mom could hear him. She couldn’t, but then again, mom’s had those weird sixth sense about this kind of stuff. Jack didn’t do this, sneak out late at night.

      “Come on, I’m already here and I did invited you.” Jack groaned and crawled out of the window. He grabbed onto Hiccup’s shoulder without meaning to, but Hiccup didn’t move as Jack got out. Jack brushed himself off and turned to close his window.

      “We should get going,” Jack turned to Hiccup, “don’t wanna miss the movie.” The drive to the theater was filled with heavy metal and screaming in another language Jack was certain wasn’t human. Jack looked around the interior of the truck, it was old, but it surprisingly smelled nice. A mix of axe body spray and mint. Hiccup pulled into a spot and turned off his truck. The two walked to the back of the line of the old theater and waited. It didn’t seem like they were going to have anyone else in for the night.

      “I don’t have money, are you paying?” Jack asked finally, following the pace of the slow moving line.

      “No, not at all. I have an in is all.” Hiccup said like he was talking about the weather. Jack frowned, crossing his arms. He wasn’t about to get in trouble for trying to sneak into a movie theater. Hiccup noticed and smirked. The stupid smirk that made his dumb lips look so damn kissable, and punchable.

      “Chill Jackie.”

      “Don’t call me Jackie.”

      “Make me.” Jack groaned and looked away from Hiccup before he did something stupid. They followed the line until they were at the booth.

      “Oh, hello Hiccup. You brought a friend with you tonight?” Asked the ticket booth attendant. She was wearing a red vest on top of a black blouse. Her black hair was shaved on the side and she had several piercings on her ears and a set on her lips. She must have been a friend of Hiccups.

      “Sup Heather, yeah just need two tickets.” Hiccup smiled, pulling Jack in to stand closer to him. The brunet’s rougher hand was wrapped around Jack’s bony wrists. Heather looked over Jack before she smiled and slid over two tickets.

      “Be glad I owe you Hiccup.” Jack felt a little disappointed when Hiccup released his wrist, and wished that Heather stopped staring at the two like she knows something they don’t.

\--

      “That was the best movie in the world. Like oh my God!” Jack almost swooned as they left the theater. Hiccup laughed a little as he unlocked his truck.

      “Yeah, and the teaser for the sequel was pretty fucking good too.”

      “Don’t even get me started on the teaser! This is like, so close to continuity. And like this is the first time that director has done this before. Props to him.” The two got in the truck. Hiccup was still laughing, apparently he found Jack nerding out funny. Jack looked down at his hands smiling.

      “And I wouldn’t have gotten to see it if you didn’t force me.” Jack laughed, buckling himself in. He was in a good mood, he really felt like the two of them were connecting. The laughter died down slowly, the time above the radio read 1:30 am. Jack felt exhausted, but it was nice, talking to someone about a movie that wasn’t behind a screen or his mother.

      “Excuse me?”

      Or not. Jack turned to see Hiccup frowning, looking extremely pissed off. He was gripping onto the steering wheel with white knuckles.

      “Uhhh…” Jack diverted his eyes from Hiccup. He was suddenly aware that even if he did try to run, Hiccup would just catch up to him and kick the shit out of him.

      “What do you mean ‘I threatened you’?” Did Hiccup really not understand, or was he acting stupid?

      “That, do you really think you asked me nicely?”

      “I didn’t threaten you.” Did Hiccup just whine and pout? He noticed that Hiccup’s eyes were a little glassy, he released his grip on the wheel and turned away from Jack. If Hiccup thought pouting was going to make Jack apologize for nothing, he was mistaken.

      “You didn’t really give me an option.” Jack retorted.

      “I thought you wanted to come. I wouldn’t have offered and wasted a favor because I wanted you to feel miserable or whatever.” Jack felt his face heat up.

      “Well excuse me for not wanting to get my teeth kicked in. But you always looks like your about to give me a black eye when you ask me to do shit for you!” Jack’s tone was harsh, he moved a little over the center console. His teeth be damned at this point.

      “Do you know how much anxiety that fucking gives me Hiccup? I’m not a fucking idiot, I know about the shit you and your friends do, so of fucking course I’m intimidated by you.” Jack felt his chest burn as he got louder. It was a little scary how angry he was getting, but it felt so good to get it off his chest.

      “Like, you should know this by now that people think you’re fucking scary. If you weren’t I would have loved doing this any other way, but you didn’t give me much of an option and-“

      “I’m sorry.” Jack stopped his rant and blinked. Hiccup let out a heavy breath and looked at Jack evenly.

      “I’m sorry.” He repeated, his voice sincere. Slowly, Jack moved his body so he was sitting properly. He heat that boiled in his chest rose to his face, he just yelled at Hiccup ‘Horrendous’, and Hiccup’s apologizing. Jack became aware of how raw his throat felt, and how close he was to crying.

      “I… I really don’t want you to feel… anxious. But I just, I thought this would be fun, but if you feel like I’m bullying you or whatever. I wouldn’t have beaten you up if you had said no. I’m sorry you feel that I would do that to you. I just don’t have anyone else to talk to about this.” Jack blinked, and felt his heartbeat quicken. He gripped onto his jeans, listening to every soft word that awkwardly tumbled out of Hiccup’s mouth. Hiccup looked away from Jack and sniffed. He started the truck, which made Jack jump a little from the sudden loudness. The two sat in silence for a minute, the only sound the purr of the engine. Jack was looking at his hands, while Hiccup kept his head up and forward.

      “I did have fun.” Jack said, hoping that the lights of the theater parking lot didn’t show how red his face was. “I just want to know where we stand.” Hiccup let out a heavy sigh as he put his truck in reverse.

      “I thought we were friends.”

\---

      Jack snuck back in the way he came. He wasn’t about to use the front door. Hiccup had dropped him off a couple houses down the road the lived on. They didn’t say anything even when Jack left. Jack couldn’t sleep when he laid in his bed. It was 2 am, and he had to be up by 6.

_‘I thought we were friends.’_

      Jack groaned into his pillow, as his brain replayed what Hiccup said to him. He sounded so sad, and lonely when he spoke to him. It wasn’t pity, it was the fact that Jack understood Hiccup that bothered him so much. But Hiccup had friends, friends that didn’t live halfway across the world like Jack’s. Despite that, Hiccup considered him a friend, and what a shitty friend he turned out to be. He didn’t care if this was Hiccup trying to guilt trip him, at this point Jack doubted it.

      Jack stood up and turned on the lamp that was perched on his headboard. He looked over at his bookshelves. It was tightly packed with three thin plastic containers in front of the expansive He remembered that he begged his mom for it at a garage sale, she told him that he would never find enough books to fill it. He swore that he would. Standing up, Jack slowly looked over the bookshelves until he found what he was looking for. Taking out a couple books, Jack held them close to his chest.

_‘I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this.’_

      Jack hoped that he wouldn’t regret this.

\--

      They didn’t meet up at the library today, which didn’t exactly surprise Jack. With the way things went last night, he was sure that Hiccup wasn’t in the mood to see him. Regardless Jack went straight to the library and ate his ham sandwich that was a little squished due to the books he was carrying. He almost ran to Anatomy when the bell rang. Of course he made it before Hiccup, he had enough time to make his move. He pulled out the three books out of his bag and carefully set them on Hiccup’s desk. The worn edges tickled Jack’s hand a little as he pat the pile.

      “Ahem.” He looked up to see Hiccup. He didn’t look pissed off at least, more so confused. No one was paying attention to the two, or noticing that Hiccup was staring at Jack wide eyed. Jack looked back down at the three books; Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns and Batgirl/Robin: Year One.

      Jack really hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.


	3. Chapter 3

       Jack chewed on the end of his pencil as he looked over his sketchbook. He had his feet propped up on his desk, the light of the lamp hitting his bare feet. He stared at the crisp blank page for what felt like an hour before he threw his sketchbook onto his bed. This was getting ridiculous, he wanted to get started on that comic but he had no idea where to start. Jack let out a groan and sat upright in his desk chair. He almost didn’t hear the soft knock on his door.

 

       “Come in.” He called out. The door slowly opened and Emma’s head popped out.

 

       “Oh, what’s up Em, need something?” Jack asked, smiling wearily. Their mom was at work late tonight, and the two had just finished the dinner Jack made for them.

 

       “No, I’m just bored. Can I read something?” She asked. Jack stretched in his chair, his back popped softly at being stretched.

 

       “Of course.”

 

       Jack watched Emma as she walked over to his bookshelf and looked over what he had.He supposed it would be more normal to tell her no, and to shut the door in her face. But Jack was used to sharing stuff with her, some of his old action figures and books were given to her over the years. Their mom didn’t make much, so Jack didn’t feel that being selfish about something like his toys was necessary.

 

      “Where is your Batgirl stuff, with Cassandra?” Emma asked as she searched one of the bins that held multiple single issues. Shit, where did he put that? Wait, he lent Hiccup, Hiccup was the last person who had it.

 

      “I lent it to someone.” “Like a friend? I thought you only had friends online.” Well Emma was right, he usually talked about his friends online. Emma has met Tooth before, and the two of them talked for a solid hour with Jack sitting awkwardly in front of his own laptop.

 

      “Rude. I’ll have you know your cool older brother has a new friend.” Emma giggled as she moved away from the bookshelf and towards his discarded sketchbook.

 

      “Also didn’t you have math homework to do?” Jack asked, his head resting on his hand. Emma stuck her tongue out at him, which made him laugh. She grabbed his sketchbook and flopped down on his bed.

 

      “Your bed stinks.”

 

      “Your feet stink.” Jack teased.

 

      “Your butt stinks, that’s why you got a stinky bed.” Jack laughed again and opened his laptop.

 

      “You got me there.” It was quiet for a while as Emma looked through his sketchbook. He didn’t mind that she looked, it’s not like he drew anything dirty. It was filled with different characters he has made over the years, like Frost or Emma’s favorite, Flee. Before Emma liked Supergirl she was obsessed with the Flash, and begged Jack to make a speedster for his comic. She explained that if he made a speedster his comic would at least be 10% cooler, Jack couldn’t argue with that logic.

 

      “You drew someone new.” Jack was pulled out of his thoughts and looked over at Emma.

 

      “Huh?”

 

      “This lizard guy, he’s new.” Emma sat up and showed Jack the page. It was a guy that had scales on his arms, his nails looked like talons. He had hair that went to his shoulder, and was snarling at something off the page. Jack drew it a couple nights ago, he was bored and he couldn’t bring himself to finish it once he realized it looked like a certain someone.

 

      “Yeah, he’s called Draco.” Jack said quickly, looking back at his laptop.

 

      “Like the Harry Potter character?” Emma frowned, looking at the character sketch again.

 

      “It’s kind of hard to make original superhero names.”

 

      “Well, he looks cool. Maybe you should give him a better name.” Jack sighed, and looked at Emma.

 

      “Okay, I’ll think about it. But first, you need to get that boring homework done.” Emma groaned dramatically, laying back down on his bed.

 

      “Yes I know, horrible. Tragic honestly, but if you do it I’ll bake you cookies.” Emma immediately perked up from hearing that. Works every time.

 

\--

 

      They were in the library again. The two of them had made up a schedule; on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays they meet during study hall. Tuesdays and Thursdays they met during lunch. Jack didn’t exactly mind, but the way Hiccup had explained it bothered him. Hiccup told him that his friends wanted to know where he was lately, and because of that he wanted to meet during study hall. It didn’t seem odd at the time, but now Jack was wondering. Did Hiccup’s friends even know that they were meeting up?

 

      “So you’re telling me that DC almost dropped Cassandra Cain. Why the fuck would they do that?” Hiccup asked, pulling Jack out of his thoughts. Jack shrugged, as he took a bite of his ham sandwich. The brunet took to Cassandra, unsurprisingly. It was kind of impossible not to like the aloof, trained-since-childhood-to-be-an-assassin turned superhero.

 

      “I try not to understand why DC does half the crap they do to their characters.” Jack answered, mouth slightly full.

 

      “And now, like, they’re rebooting again? DC and Marvel?” Hiccup leaned in closer, tightly holding the little plastic container of applesauce. “That just seems shitty to do to new readers.” Jack laughed a little.

 

      “Believe me, when you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you just learn to accept bullshit.” Hiccup rolled his eyes and ate a spoonful of his applesauce.

 

      “By the way, what did you think of Under the Red Hood and Lost Days?” Jack asked, picking at the crust of his sandwich. After a certain rant a few days ago about Scott Lobdell and his Red Hood and the Outlaws run Hiccup asked Jack who on earth Jason Todd was. After a brief history lesson about how many child soldiers Batman has recruited over the years, Hiccup was a bit interested.

 

      “Awesome, like him a lot more then I like Nightwing though. Sorry.” Jack rolled his eyes.

 

      “My heart will go on.” Putting away his half eaten ham sandwich, Jack noticed a small plastic baggy at the bottom of his backpack. It was cookies he made last night with Emma. She told him to give some to his new friend, unless he wasn’t actually real. Jack pulled out the baggy and extended his hands out to Hiccup.

 

      “What’s this?” Hiccup asked, spoon in mouth.

 

      “Cookies, chocolate chip last time I checked.” Hiccup frowned and set his food down.

 

      “I mean, why are you giving them to me?” Hiccup asked, sounding annoyed. Before, the idea of bothering or pissing off Hiccup scared Jack, now not so much.

 

      “Well,” Jack set the bag on the table, “I made them last night with my little sister. And she wanted me to give you some.” Jack’s blue yes glanced up at Hiccup, who was staring at the bag like it was going to hurt him.

 

      “Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Hiccup grabbed the bag and put it in his backpack.

 

      “Does your sister usually force you to make her cookies?” Jack frowned, he didn’t exactly suggest that Emma ‘forced’ him to do anything.

 

      “Um, no, I actually like baking. It’s something fun to do over the holidays with my family, but yeah if I got time I don’t mind doing it.” Hiccup looked at Jack like he grew a second head. Like the idea of him admitting that was weird.

 

      "What is it?”

 

      “Nothing, nothing at all.” Hiccup said too quickly, looking down at his backpack. That was weird, Hiccup didn’t usually get nervous or whatever he was feeling right now. Jack grabbed the comics in the middle of the table and stuffed them into his backpack. Why did everything feel so weird now? Jack stared at the cover of the Under the Red Hood comic, until he remembered something.

 

      “Um…” Hiccup perked up as Jack tried to think of what to say. “So, Under the Red Hood is also a movie, and maybe you wanna see it.” Hiccup raised an eyebrow at that.

 

      “On your flashdrive?”

 

      “No, no, like do you want to come over and see it? Like Saturday or something?” Jack shrugged, getting more and more nervous as Hiccup stared at him. “Or not, I mean, that’s fine.”

 

      “Sure.” Jack felt his heart still for a moment, and why did his face feel so hot? The bell for the end of lunch rang, making Jack flinch a little.

 

      “Really?” He leaned over the table a little as Hiccup pulled out of his chair.

 

      “Well I did just say yes. I’m not doing anything anyway, besides…” Hiccup leaned down, his face getting a little close to Jacks. Biting on his bottom lip, Jack tried not to move forward or backward from Hiccup. “it gives me a reason to finally see what your room looks like.” Hiccup smirked, his lip ring looking tempting as always. With a simple turn of his heel, he headed out of the library. The pale teen felt his face heat up.

 

      Hiccup ‘Horrendous’ Haddock was coming over to his house.

 

\--

 

      Jack used half a bottle of Febreeze and made sure to take all his dirty clothes on the floor and put them in a laundry basket. Then proceeded to spray that with even more Febreeze. He wasn’t nervous, why would he be. It’s not like someone at his school, who was unreasonably attractive, was coming over in his safe space and see how much of an absolute loser he is. Nope, not at all.

 

      ‘Jack, chill, Hiccup is your friend. He would never do that.’ He reasoned to himself. Then again what did he know? Nothing, that’s what.

 

      “Why are you acting so weird?” Emma asked, watching her brother from his doorway. “Is your friend coming over?”

 

      “Uh, yeah. He is. In like, soon.” Jack pulled out his phone to check. Yeah, soon.

 

      “Oh, maybe when he comes over I can ask him if he knows about Supergirl. I mean you told him about her right? Right?” Emma asked, grabbing his arm.

 

      “Yeah, yeah sure.” Jack answered not really paying attention. He was glad someone in the house wasn’t freaking out like him.

 

DING DONG

 

      “I guess that’s him.” Emma said, letting go of Jack. “I’ll let him in.”

 

      “Wait Emma-“ It was too late, she had already ran out of his room. Jack scanned his room once more before heading to the door. Hiccup was standing on the porch. He was wearing a red t-shirt and black jeans that were tight around his thighs. It took everything in Jack’s body not to scream at how thick his thighs looked. Before Hiccup could notice him Jack pressed his back against the wall dividing the entryway from the kitchen/living room. He was biting his knuckles, his brain screaming abort.

 

      “Are you Jack’s friend? The one he’s been weird about?” Emma asked, bluntly.

 

      “Uh, yeah I guess so.” Jack heard the door close, and the metal clank of Hiccup’s prosthetic. “Is he here?”

 

      “Yeah, he’s in his room. You look really familiar.” Jack turned the corner, looking fairly calm and normal.

 

      “Hey, Hiccup. My room is this way.” Jack pointed to the left of him. Hiccup followed Jack, with Emma following not too far behind. Green eyes scanned his walls with different promotional posters and his extensive books case and comic book containers. The small TV that Jack was able to find was on top of his dresser, at the foot of his bed.

 

      “Shit, if I didn’t know any better Jack I would assume you were trying to impress me.” Hiccup glanced over to his left and noticed that Emma was staring at him. Hiccup’s cheeks went pink, like he just got caught doing something he shouldn’t have. “I mean, crap.” Jack snorted, finding it kind of endearing how nervous Hiccup was around Emma. Who’d have known that the punk got uncomfortable around children?

 

      “Emma, do you need something?” Jack asked, he was hoping that his little sister would leave the two alone.

 

      “Wait! You’re in Jack’s sketchbook!” Emma smiled. Hiccup looked confused for a second, before he started smiling smugly. His green eyes glanced over at Jack.

 

      “Oh yeah?” He asked Emma. Jack felt his face heat up as he gently pushed Emma out of his room.

 

      “Okay Emma go out to play.” Jack said quickly before closing his bedroom door. He could feel the weight of Hiccup’s gaze on him. Finally turning around, Hiccup had his arms crossed staring at Jack expectantly.

 

      “So, about that movie?”

 

\--

 

      “Are you crying, Hiccup?” The movie had just ended, and it still got to Jack as well. The first time he watched it he almost cried, but Hiccup, Hiccup looked like he was close to sobbing. His shoulders were shaking a little, but Jack didn’t say anything. It was a fucked up ending, and Jack wasn’t going to mock Hiccup for getting emotional about. Jack heard a sniffle, a second one, then Hiccup let out a deep breathe. He wasn’t shaking anymore.

 

      “No.” The brunet’s voice was rough and ragged. Smiling, Jack pressed his back against his headboard. After the initial awkwardness had died down, Jack found it kind of fun having Hiccup over. He didn’t say much about Jack’s collection, he just let out a whistle when he really took the entire sight in. Jack was going to take that as a compliment.

 

      “This is probably my favorite DC animated movie. I mean, recently I’ve had an issue with the artistic style for the new ones. And the fact they avoid canon kind of sucks too.” Jack went off, Hiccup hummed a little to show he was listening. Hiccup was sitting up in the middle of his twin bed, which wasn’t too bad since Hiccup didn’t move around so much when they were watching the movie. It was getting kind of nice, Jack realized, talking to Hiccup. At first he was worried that Hiccup’s silence was annoyance, but now Jack figured out that Hiccup was just a good listener. He didn’t interrupt Jack whenever he went on his rambles, it was kind of reassuring. Stretching, Hiccup got off his bed, and immediately walked over to his bookcase.

 

      “You really are a big nerd.” Hiccup teased as he looked over the selection of books.

 

      “Yeah a nerd you hang out with.” Jack joked, watching Hiccup as he pulled out a book. It was the first volume of the Blackest Night run. Hiccup looked over his shoulder and smiled a little bit, Jack felt his heartbeat quicken a little bit. He was alone with Hiccup, in his bedroom. Where almost anything could happen, Jack sat up and tried not to look nervous. Hiccup pulled out another book, it was the graphic novel Bloodspell with Zatanna and Black Canary on the cover looking bad ass.

 

      “Does DC have a thing for hot ladies in fishnets?” Hiccup joked as he looked over the cover. For some reason hearing that felt like a punch in the stomach. A horrible and sickening punch of reality. His bedroom door swung open, it was his mother who was still wearing her work uniform.

 

      “Jack could you, oh,” her eyes landed on Hiccup. “I didn’t know Jack was having a friend over.” Jack felt the air in his lungs leave, shit he forgot to tell his mom Hiccup was coming over. He forgot she didn’t work late this Saturday, he knew he wasn’t going to hear the end of this.

 

      “Hiccup, Jack and I have Anatomy together.” Hiccup set the book back on the shelf, and extended a hand out for Mrs. Overland to shake. Jack’s mom smiled, and shook Hiccup’s hand.

 

      “I see, well I was just going to have Jack help me out with dinner. Would you like to join us, it’s chicken pot pie.” Jack felt stiff, Hiccup couldn’t stay for dinner his mom would ask too many questions and just make things weird.

 

      “Sorry I can’t, I’m also vegetarian so no on the chicken. Besides I have to be somewhere.” Hiccup gave her an apologetic smile.

 

      “Oh, I see. Well it was nice meeting you. Jack once you’re done come to the kitchen a help me out.” His mother said, leaving his bedroom door open. Nibbling on his bottom lip, Jack kept his gaze onto his carpet. Um…

 

      “So, never knew you didn’t eat meat.” Real smooth Jack. Hiccup let out a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

      “Yeah, my dad got more pissed off about that then when I got my tattoo.” A minute of silence followed after that.

 

      “I do gotta go, meeting up with Astrid.”

 

      “Oh.” Jack said simply, almost pathetically. Well, he isn’t Hiccup’s only friend in the world. He wanted to ask what the two were going to do, but for some reason Jack was scared to ask and find out.

 

      “But I had fun, we should do this again sometime.” Hiccup smiled, Jack returned the smile and finally got off his bed.

 

      “Yeah totally.” He showed Hiccup out with not a lot to say except that they would see each other Monday. Jack headed to the kitchen to see his mother working on the crust for the pot pie. He went straight to the cutting board to help cut up the raw chicken breasts.

 

      “So, Hiccup seems like a nice boy.” His mom finally said, not looking up from her work.

 

      “Mom. Please.”

 

      “Next time just let me know you are having a friend over.” She said gently, to show she wasn’t mad.

 

      “Yes, mom.”

 

      “And Jack,” He turned around to see his mother smiling at him, “he’s very handsome.” Jack let out a groan and looked away from her, his cheeks and ears turning red. His mother giggled, saying she was just teasing him.

 

\--

 

      That night Jack stared at his bedroom ceiling. It was 2 am and he couldn’t fall asleep. The same thing echoed in his head over and over.

 

      Hot Ladies. Hiccup thought they were hot, he was also meeting up with Astrid to do something. Jack had heard the rumors, and he wasn’t sure if they were true or not. But now.

 

      Why in the world did Hiccup have to be so fucking nice, why couldn’t he be a total asswipe? Or at least be the worst to hang out with, then Jack wouldn’t feel so discombobulated. Before Hiccup was just a pretty face, a late night thought when Jack was… restless. But now, now Hiccup just _had_ to show that he was actually nice, and cute and so fucking likable. It took a while, but it happened, Jack developed feelings for Hiccup.

 

      Turning on his stomach, Jack groaned into his pillow. Hiccup Haddock was straight, and of course Jack had to fall for him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys it has been a while. I've been dealing with a lot of personal stuff over the past couple months, and in the end when I wanted to write again my laptop died. But I was able to save this baby and kick everything back into gear! So, please please please enjoy this chapter.

It was a little past midnight and the only light in Jack’s room was the light blue glow of his laptop. His hair a mess and his eyes ached for looking at the screen for so long. He glared at the open Skype message board; specifically he was glaring at the icon of a cutely drawn hummingbird with the username of ‘Toothyanna’.

**Toothyanna** : So…

**Toothyanna** : From what I can surmise, you got it bad for this boy.

**Jack’s Frosty** :  i don’t think you understand the problem

**Jack’s Frosty** : it’s pretty clear…

**Jack’s Frosty** : i have to kill him

**Jack’s Frosty** : or i have to move to Russia and make friends with the local yetis

                  Toothyanna: OKAY CHILL.

**Toothyanna** : I understand the problem.

**Toothyanna** : You are a huge dork with a huge dork crush.

**Jack's** **Frosty** : first of all rude

**Jack’s Frosty** : secondly this isnt a joke

**Jack’s Frosty** : he is straight and i dont want to slip up and get hurt somehow

**Jack’s Frosty** : in more ways than one

**Toothyanna** : Maybe you should ask him??

**Toothyanna** : From what you’ve told me he seems like a really nice guy!

**Toothyanna** : And he is coming over to your place right tomorrow??

**Jack’s Frosty** : yeah… well

**Jack’s Frosty** : im going to bed… night…

                  Jack closed his laptop before he read Tooth’s response. He knew that she meant well, but it still rubbed him the wrong way. You just don’t ask people if they’re gay or not; especially in a town like this. And some nagging part of him, a part of him deep down, was saying that Hiccup could turn on him in any moment. It wasn’t an insult to imply or even suggest someone is or could be gay, but some guys his age don’t really understand that. Jack let out a long sigh and started rubbing his eyes. Mostly due to the strain of the light and partly because he hoped that could somehow clear those thoughts out of his head. Pulling his hands away he blinked wearily at his unmade bed and slowly slinked under the cold sheets. He tried not to think about tomorrow and despite how worried he was Jack was excited to see Hiccup tomorrow.

\--

                  Jack was laying on his stomach, flipping through the first volume of Saga. He had read the book 10 times already but he wasn’t sure what to read. And he didn’t want to go on his computer when Hiccup was here. Hiccup was going through his inventory of comic books right now like usual. It was just like how it normally went; Hiccup came in his room, they talked for a bit about school or comics or whatever, and then after Hiccup would read a book or two they would talk about it. A little bit more passionately on Jack’s end, but he knew that Hiccup didn’t mind it at this point. Probably finding it funny how Jack talked with his hands and his normal low toned voice would raise up in volume.

Jack’s eyes wandered off the page and slowly over Hiccup. He took in the sight of his back, the black t-shirt that was tight around his arms and then to his belt. Jack felt his face heat up a little and he forced himself to take interest in what was going on with Marko and Alana. 

“So, any Marvel comics you would suggest?” Jack jumped a little, and looked up from his book again. Hiccup was looking over his shoulder at Jack.

“Well I really liked Children’s Crusade, and it’s got Billy Kaplan who’s cool.” Jack shrugged. Hiccup ran his finger slowly over the spine of the graphic novel that Jack suggested. When the brunette pulled it out and looked over the cover he hummed for a moment and sat on the floor next to the bookshelf. Jack tried to keep his eyes off Hiccup, whose eyes were at a half cast as he read the book. Jack had been noticing for a while now how calm Hiccup looks when he reads during these little moments. The little freckles on his cheeks stood out a little more, and for a guy, Hiccup had pretty long eyelashes that almost touched his cheeks when he was reading something. God, Tooth was right, he had it bad.

He had been caught staring once before this, but Hiccup chuckled at how quickly Jack tried to look away and look inconspicuous. Jack remembered hearing Hiccup whisper something to himself, something along the lines of “dork”. He had felt like his face was going to melt with how hard he blushed that day.

In the middle of his reminiscing Jack noticed Hiccup raise an eyebrow at something he was reading. Wait, how long had Jack been “subtly” staring, and how fast of a reader was Hiccup again? Was he at that part with Teddy kissing that homophobic hate group member? Was he at the part where Teddy said he would go wherever his boyfriend was going? Was he at the part where Teddy is gently cupping the side of Billy’s face like he’s about to kiss him? Was he-

“They’re gay?” Jack blinked quickly, suddenly aware that he was staring at Hiccup. Hiccup was squinting at Jack like he was trying to figure something out. Something about Jack.

“…Yeah…” Jack said slowly, darting his eyes away from Hiccup’s stare.

“Oh…” Hiccup said slowly and looked back down at the book, still squinting as if he was trying to figure something out. Jack had a feeling he knew what it was. He rubbed his fingertips together nervously, trying to think about what to say but nothing came to mind. The conversation from last night was running through his mind now. Jack could just come out and say it with some hope that Hiccup would give him a crooked smile and go back to reading. As if.

“So… are you gay…?” Hiccup asked slowly, like he wasn’t sure how to ask the question. Jack glanced over at Hiccup, who had put the book aside and was looking at Jack like he wanted confirmation.

“Uh… yeah, I guess.”

“You guess?” Hiccup asked, sounding slightly annoyed. Jack sat up on his bed and let out a sigh. He finally looked at Hiccup squarely in the face. Hiccup’s face was still scrunched up, like he couldn’t believe it or just wanted to Jack to say it clearly.

“Yeah, I’m gay.” Jack said, and he felt his voice shake for a moment at the end of the statement. He never said it aloud to anyone outside of his immediate family. But then again ever since he started high school a lot of people called him that without him even saying a word. He never gave those people the time of day, but that didn’t seem to matter to them. That seemed like his silence was the only answer they needed and at this point in his junior year people just assume so.

So what has Jack floored right now, knowing the reputation he had at school as the ‘weird gay loner that liked comic books’ is Hiccup’s reaction. The brunet looked speechless; somehow Jack coming out to big bad Hiccup had him at a loss of words. Jack noticed the fidgeting from where Hiccup was sitting on the floor, and if it was hard to breathe before Jack felt asthmatic now.

“… Okay?” Hiccup said, as if it was a question, like he wasn’t sure how to process this new information. But it didn’t look like he was about to lunge at Jack, or call him the names he has heard enough times during his high school years.

“Okay.” Jack said slowly, he glanced down at his bed and saw that he was gripping his sheets with white knuckles. The air felt stilted and Jack could feel Hiccup’s eyes on him. Say something, say something, anything.

A loud sound broke the silence, a sound that Jack could only compare to a garbage disposal going off. Hiccup also looked shocked and touched his pants pocket to pull out his phone, the source of the noise. Hiccup answered his phone, looking… relieved. The look made Jack’s stomach clench for a moment. The churning of his stomach echoed in his head and Hiccup’s voice warbled in his head incoherently.

“-okay, yeah I’ll head over now.” Hiccup said and hung up from his call, “I have to get going.” He said without much explanation. Jack blinked at how quickly Hiccup got up from his seat on the floor, his books flopping onto his carpeted floor loudly.

“Um, should I…?” Jack slowly got up to show Hiccup out, but was motioned to stay put.

“No, no, just, I can walk myself out.” Hiccup said hurriedly, eyes on the door. Jack’s heartbeat echoed in his ears and he could tell that Hiccup felt caged in, caged in with him. And that made him uncomfortable.

‘Of course it does.’ Jack thought bitterly.

“I’ll see you Monday, okay?” Hiccup asked, hand on his door knob eyes on Jack. He didn’t look upset, by the way he was looking at Jack, maybe uncomfortable would be a better word for it. Maybe he just had to adjust to the idea, or maybe he really did need to hurry up and go somewhere. That small glimmer of hope and ‘maybe’s’ were enough for Jack to nod solemnly and watch Hiccup leave.

The churning and the rhythmic beats of his body was making it hard to sit up. Slowly Jack pressed his face in his pillow and let out a whimper. Monday, he would see him Monday and everything would be okay.

Right?

\--

Jack was dreading Monday morning as he tried to steel himself. He would either meet up or be stood up by Hiccup at study hall.

‘Yeah, stood up, it’s not like we are dating.’ Jack snarked internally. His morning classes were a blur as he kept his eyes on the clock, with each tick resonating with the beat of his heart. Their study hall period was in the block period before lunch, and if Jack wouldn’t seem him at the library he could definitely spot him in the lunch hall if he wanted to. Jack found the table at the school’s library that they often used and opened up a notebook and pretended to get started on some Trig homework.

The minutes that past by added onto his anxiety and at the 45 minute mark Jack was certain that he was screwed. How was he going to face Hiccup in Anatomy? How was he going to get his comic books back? And how was he going to get back his old lifestyle? A lifestyle where he kept to himself and felt disconnected and judged, where he never spoke up because he didn’t have someone there? Hiccup was going to leave and Jack was going to be alone again and how the hell was he going to adjust to that?

Jack let out a shaky breath and closed his math notebook loudly and pushed it as far away as possible from him. He pressed the palms of his hands over his eyes and tried to count backwards. Shit, shit, shit, he can’t handle this, he can’t do this.

“Are you okay?”

Jack looked up hoping to see Hiccup, wonderfully freckled and crooked teethed Hiccup. Hiccup’s thick eyebrows were pulled in and his green eyes showing concern and nothing else. Something to calm down his breathing and these thoughts.

But it wasn’t Hiccup. It was the librarian of the school, her glasses on the tip of her nose. She looked down at Jack with a worried expression, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. Jack flinched out of instinct, but she didn’t seem offended by it.

“Dear, you look very pale, maybe you should go to the nurse.” She suggested. Jack was about to wave off the concern, until the bell for lunch rang. He could see a wave of students crowding the halls and trying to rush to get a seat with their friends from the library windows. The churning stopped and was replaced with a heavy, cold rock. He didn’t come.

“… Yeah, thank you.” Jack said quietly, keep his eyes on the desk in front of him.

\--

                  He hadn’t seen Hiccup the next couple days. The punk didn’t even show up in Anatomy class. Jack understood space but this was flat out just avoiding someone and it fucking hurt. Jack didn’t have a disease; he was just who he was. He couldn’t tell his mother about this, because she would just try to soothe her son’s hurt feelings. And Jack honestly didn’t want to be pitied right now, he just wanted this school year end and have Hiccup graduate so he would never see that stupid fucking lip ring and green eyes again.

                  However the universe decided that instead he was going to see Hiccup on Thursday. He saw him whilst walking in the halls with his group of friends. Hiccup certainly didn’t look distraught or troubled about abandoning Jack, he seemed to be doing just fine. And when they passed by each other Hiccup didn’t even spare a glance at his direction, not that Jack was expecting that. His fury was subtle and quiet, he avoided going to the library during study hall and kept his eyes forward during Anatomy that day. A small part of him was quietly suggesting that he should look or give him a chance, but Jack would shut that voice up quickly. Only a couple months and Hiccup Haddock would be just a distant memory.

                  When he came home he holed up in his room and laid on his bed curled up. It took an hour for him to realize he needed something to do, staring at a wall and moping was pointless. Limping over to his bookshelf he looked over the titles with tired eyes. He needed something plot heavy, but not something he hadn’t read less than ten times. _Fables_ was a good idea, a murder mystery with fantasy characters sounded like a book his anger riddled brain could breeze through. But where was it?

                  Jack looked over the spines of the books and pulled out a few bins as he tried to find the first volume of the series. Piles and piles of series were placed around him as he tried to find the book. There were passing thoughts that maybe he should reorganize his bookcase. He ended up looking under his bed to find that he was missing the first and second volume of the series, did Emma take them?  She did like to sneak off with a volume of two of series that Jack made explicitly clear that she shouldn’t read.

                  “Emma!” He yelled, walking out of his room, knocking piles of books down. “Emma! Do you have my books?” He called out, walking to her room. She was sitting on her bed, in the middle of reading an actual book for once.

                  “No..?” She said slowly, as if she couldn’t remember. Jack sighed and opened her closet door, ignoring her indignant yell that he was invading her privacy. He patted down the high shelf inside her closet where she usually stuck books that she would sneak out of his room, but nothing.

                  “Get out of my room, you’re being weird.” She yelled, trying to push him away from her closet. It wasn’t enough to move him, just annoy him as he kept trying to find something. All he found was a stuffed rabbit and some old shoe boxes.

                  “Shit.” He cursed under his breath.

                  “See? I told you I didn’t have anything.” She whined, still pushing him outside of her room with little avail. He would have apologized, but he was trying to remember where it was. It couldn’t be. Shit it was with him.

                  The universe wasn’t done just yet to make Jack’s life miserable.

\--

                  Jack felt like he was given a death sentence now that he _had_ to talk to Hiccup now. He could just leave them with Hiccup but those volumes were twenty dollars and he wasn’t going to buy them again. And like hell he was going to let Hiccup keep his shit after ignoring him. This isn’t how this was going to work.

                  It was by lunch time that Jack knew what he had to do. The best idea would be just to talk to him during Anatomy, where he wouldn’t have to deal with his posse of friends. It would be less awkward for both of them. Jack took his tray of food to his usual small table and started eating whatever wasn’t gray or smothered in the school’s gravy. His eyes scanned over the land of the cafeteria, watching people talk to their friends happily. Before, this sight didn’t hurt as much, but now Jack could barely stomach his food. The feeling heightened as he saw Hiccup with his own group of friends. Jack wanted to look away, he wanted to ignore this asshole that made him _feel_ things. But he kept his eyes on Hiccup and watched him as he talked to his friends, smiling and laughing and then it happened. Hiccup looked right at him, it was just a moment, but Jack was certain Hiccup looked straight at him. And then he looked away looking, guilty, hurt, confused; and then back to smiling and laughing with his friends.

                  No.

                  No way in hell.

                  Jack threw his plate on his tray and loudly got up from his seat. His hands were balled into little fists at his side as he weaved around tables as he kept his sights on Hiccup. He was only a few feet away until Hiccup took notice that Jack was walking over here and glaring at him. To make it even clearer that Jack wasn’t interested in anyone, but Hiccup he stood right next to the sitting teen. The table was fairly silent, save for a few snickers from the twins and Snotlout who found this awkward air so hilarious.

                  “I want my books back.” Jack said bluntly. He heard a couple chuckles at the table, but Hiccup wasn’t laughing just annoyed that his friends couldn’t take a hint. The brunet glared at the others at the table before he looked back at Jack.

                  “Can we talk about this in private?”

                  Oh, oh that was fucking rich. Now Hiccup wanted to talk to him, when Jack was talking to him in front of his dumb friends. His dumb friends that Hiccup wanted to, what, impress, look cool in front of?

                  “No, we can’t. I want my shit back.” Jack said sternly, teeth grinding as he said the words. Hiccup sighed and looked back around, specifically at Astrid before looking back up at Jack.

                  “Yeah, okay, later.”

                  “No, I want them now.” Jack knew he sounded like a toddler, but he could care less right now. Besides he has every right to sound whiny. It suddenly became clear that Hiccup was embarrassed by him, for what? For not liking loud music, for not terrorizing other people, for liking comic books, for not being straight?

                  “Geez Hic, your boyfriend is really-“

                  “He isn’t my fucking boyfriend!” It came out louder than expected. Loud enough that that entire area of the cafeteria went quiet.  “I’m not even _good enough_ to be his friend.”

                  If Hiccup thought he was embarrassing before, he was petty enough to prove him wrong now. Hiccup’s face became flush for a moment, before he finally made a move to get up.

                  “Jack, you need to stop-“

                  “Talking to you? That’s fine! I honestly don’t want to anymore.”

                  Lies.

                  “I’m just your embarrassing gay friend that you’re afraid has a crush on you. Surprise, I don’t!”

                  More lies.

                  “So just, just, just give me my books back and things will go back to normal.” Jack finally ended, and no he can’t be crying. He isn’t supposed to be crying. Damn it. He turned on his heel to get away from the million eyes that seemed to be on him now. To get away from the supervisors that probably want a word with him now. To get away from Hiccup who looked like he _pitied_ Jack and his broken voice. The white haired teen turned around, ready to hide in the bathroom stalls until the end of school, for the end of the year.

                  “Jack, just wait one-“

                  It was the tight grip on his wrist that triggered the reaction. It was all high emotions and the need to get this toxic feeling out in any way possible. Jack’s pale fist made connection with a freckled cheek. The bones of his kunckles made contact with soft flesh that protected the cheek bone.

                  Jackson Frost Overland just punched and gave Hiccup “Horrendous” Haddock a black eye.


End file.
